Here is a no fail idea one of my former coworkers did
(I think hers was second grade). Kris's idea below.

Students did a chalk stencil mountain/hills background
using just grays on white paper (Aerial perspective).
I think all of you know how to do a torn paper stencil
background. You can erase a small circle in the sky
for a moon if you wish (or block out a small circle
with a piece of paper - I have done suns/moons both
ways).

In the foreground, they did a cherry tree. They
dropped some India ink down towards the bottom of the
page - then blew the ink with a straw to create the
branches (very loose trees - spindly branches - get
the idea?). Once the ink was dry - they added little
red cherries with tempera paint and a tiny brush. Work
through a quicky sample yourself to see if my
explanation makes sense. If anyone does this - I want
the lesson on IAD (I will credit my coworker with the
idea - with her permission of course). I'll provide
the links to Japanese art.

Thankful today for all these lists do to bring this
world closer together.....one small step towards world
peace (smile).

Judith

--- Eric & Kris Holsen <holsenek@earthlink.net> wrote:

> We gave them grey paper (bogus paper?) and a yellow
> circle (sun) - maybe
> they traced and cut their own but I'm not sure.
>
> Then I talked to them about different brush strokes
> - thick & thin,
> directional, etc. - I even made a chart/checklist of
> everything to try. I
> also talked about how Japanese artists concentrate
> on their work and don't
> talk, because they are trying to connect with their
> subject. I played
> Japanese koto music and they painted (in black only)
> a collection of dried
> grasses and flowers I had put in vases on their
> tables. I got the grasses
> in the ditch and field behind my house - just dried
> weeds and such from a
> vacant lot.